Keg Fraud: Busted For Puting Pricier Brand Labels On Cheaper Beer

If you bought a keg in Greensboro, NC you might have gotten some crappy beer with a more expensive label, says the News-Record. David Edward Essa, 34, and Robert Christopher Martin, 35 are charged with three counts of the delightful-sounding felony “obtaining money by false pretenses,” after placing more expensive brand names on cheaper beer.

“Most retailers take seriously their responsibility not to fraudulently deceive consumers purchasing alcoholic beverages,” said Alan Fields, district supervisor for Greensboro’s ALE Office. “This is the first time in 20 years, I’ve heard complaints about switching brand labels.”

In April, ALE Agents covertly ordered a keg of beer labeled with the Bud Light brand from an employee at the University General Store. They also obtained samples of the Bud Light on tap at the Spring Garden Bar and Pizzeria. Analysis of both samples indicated the beer was Busch Light in both cases.

The ALE investigation also revealed that employees at Westerwood Tavern were selling Keystone Light beer from a tap, but representing the product to consumers as Coors Light, a more expensive beer.

This reminds me of the tests that were secretly done on wine snobs where they substituted $5 wines for $100 and the snobs would talk about how incredible this expensive wine was and why it was so expensive.

There’s probably a bigger difference in taste between Coors Light and Keystone Light than there is between $5 Cabernet and $100 Cabernet

I would guess that this happens pretty frequently. It just that people get away with it. If you’re not doing side by side comparisons, it’s going to be pretty hard for the average person to tell one watery light beer from another.

I sometimes wonder about this at restaurants and such…I’ve had a few times where I’ve asked the waiter to take my drink back and bring back a glass of what I paid for. I’m usually right…the other times, they just need to tap a new keg, so I’m still kind of right ;-)

@Toof_75_75: I stupidly have ordered beer at a local resturant three times over the course of a year, and I have that same thing happen, it just does NOT taste like what I ordered…I always have them take it back and get something in a bottle.

@B: I was thinking the same thing. All those brands taste like Lucifer’s urine mixed with the sweat on his lower back after a hard day of torturing souls. And I actually like beer! And by “beer,” I mean actual beer. Preferably brewed in Europe. In a pinch, Blue Moon. Mmmm, Blue Moon… (runs out door to nearest liquor store.)

I don’t want to hear any nonsense about American beers being bad. We make the same beers Europe makes. The only thing Europe has, is the German purity law. Most microbreweries in America make all your favorite ales and lagers, that taste just as good as the ones in Europe. If you’re embarrassed of BudLight and beers such as that, blame High schoolers and Jimmy Frat boy.

@Bladefist: go to canada & get some beer that hasn’t been pasteurized (like alexander keith’s IPA) & you’ll think differently. i like a lot of american brands, but there’s definitely a difference – esp. when you don’t bombard your frothy goodness with taste-death rays.

While there is no excuse for this. How about when you go to a restaurant with ginger ale on the menu and they serve you sprite with a splash of coke for color. I don’t know who thinks that is actually ginger ale, but that person needs to be shot.

For the record this has happened to me at ESPN Zone and houston’s. I was explained this method by a waiter at ESPN Zone so I obviously did not order it. Then at Houston’s I was brought the glass of sprite with a splash of coke. When i said this is not ginger ale the server was like oh, we do have ginger ale. Turns out the bartender didn’t actually crack open a bottle like he should have.

@homerjay:
That would depend entirely on which $5 bottle and which $100 bottle you used for your blind study. I’ve found a few bottles at my local wine shop that retailed for $10 that would knock the socks off many pricer wines.

I can’t tell you about the “hints of currant” or anything like that, but I can tell you that I’ve had enough “fine” wine to identify a good tasting wine from a bad tasting one, and most $5 wines taste nothing like their more expensive counterparts.

@nrich239: NC ALE take their job way TOO “seriously”. Overzealous would be a better description. When I was in college in NC, among other things they did:

– They regularly arrested whole cars full of college students merely for legally buying beer at an off-campus grocery store with an under-21 friend waiting in the car. There was no evidence whatsoever that the person of legal age intended to share the beer with the under-21 individual, and it was usually put in the trunk. ALL people in the crowd were arrested, even over-21 students who were not the ones that even bought the beer. All people 21 or older were charged with “providing to minors” and all under 21 people were charged with underage possession of alcohol. Most got off easily in court if they got a lawyer, but it was mainly meant as an intimation tactic. They only stopped doing this once the university and local police publicly complained and requested that they stop.

– They arrested people for underage drinking for merely being present and assisting, after having consumed alcohol, when students with alcohol poisoning were taken to campus health clinics or local hospitals, by staking out both. This had the probable of actually discouraging people from seeking medical attention when a friend had dangerous alcohol poisoning.

– Undercover officers infiltrated various campus groups to look for underage drinking activity. And I’m not just talking about walking into a public party, but actively using subterfuge.

– Staking out local liquor stores, and harassing anyone “young looking” who was leaving after making a purchase as they walked to their car. This would typically involve checking everyone’s ID, despite the fact that an ID check had presumably just been done moments earlier inside the state store.

@BloggyMcBlogBlog: yeah, but don’t the larger brands cold-filter the crap out of their drafts? if you like a little cloud in your beer, try allagash white – good stuff (just like everything else that comes from maine).

@cronick: Correction – american mass produced beer is all piss (minus Sam Adams, which is at least decent). But the US has some of the best beers in the world, they’re just all microbrews and hard to find outside of their areas.

Go to Portland or Philadelphia, those are the two best beer towns in the US. Philly has a few good area microbrews, but a ton of imports (I’m told we serve more varieties of belgian beer here than amsterdam). Portland has more microbrews, but fewer imports. I’ve been spoiled by the beer in philadelphia.

@Bladefist: It’s just amazing to me to see that the giant breweries still have such a huge marketshare given the abundance of good beer that you can readily get in America these days.

As a beer drinker, I’m also always disappointed when I go to a nice restaurant and they have this big list of fancy wines and their beer list is like “Bud Lite – Coors – Miller Lite”. I like wine too and I understand that it’s going to be a higher profit-margin item for them, but seriously, if you’re going to have beer at all, stock something that I might actually want to drink with nice food.

@johnva: There’s a restaurant in philadelphia that has a huge list of beers from all over the world. Well, actually there’s a few restaurants like this in philadelphia, but this one puts the normal stuff like Bud and Miller on a totally separate list that says “You could get water for free, but if you’re willing to pay for this stuff, I guess we’ll serve it to you.”

@bonzombiekitty: Oh, it’s getting a bit better as it slowly dawns on more people that there is more to beer than mass-produced American light lager. Certainly some restaurants have decent beer selections now. I’m just complaining about how good beer still doesn’t seem to get the “respect” that good wine does from many restaurants (especially high-end ones) that aren’t places that specialize in beer. Prohibition and big beer corporations destroyed this country’s taste for beer, and it’s only now coming back to life with the proliferation of small breweries and brewpubs.

@Bladefist: well, they’re not really exposed to the difference. most bars have a very limited selection on tap –> bud, bud lite, coors lite, miller lite, killian’s, guinness, sam adams (maybe some local regionals). & beer stores can be just as limited. perhaps there’s an exception when you live in proximity to a thriving micro-brew culture, but i’d gauge that 90% of america really wouldn’t know a good beer if it was thrown in their face.

of course, taste is subjective. i know quite a few people who prefer big names b/c (in their opinion) all micro-brews are “too hoppy”.

Most mainstream American beers are quite horrible. There’s a reason the Germans were raving mad that only Budweiser would be served at the World Cup stadiums. I mean let’s face it, no one really thinks Coors Lite or Bud Lite are actually beer.

That said there are some really good American beers but you do have to go off the beaten path. There were some great micro-breweries in Madison WI that were just as good as the European beers. America gets a bad rap because we seem to have some kind of rule that only crappy beers can be exported.

@mac-phisto: They really mean too malty of course. I had a friend who worked at 54th street, which is like an Applebees. They replaced some of their light beers with micro-brews, and the customers through a fit. So they went back. So unfortunately, it’s the people with no respect for beer, who control what beer is on tap.

@Bladefist: Of course, it’s just dead wrong and ignorant to make any such categorical statement about “all” micro-brews. There are so many different beers that I think anyone could find one they like, if they like beer at all.

they have their regular run & also something like a “signature series” – after the brewing process, they actually age some of their brews in wooden casks & then produce short-runs that they bottle in 750mL bottles. they’re trying to change the stereotype that only wine has class & their website even recommends dishes to pair their brews too. their operation (& marketing) is really quite impressive.

@mac-phisto: Yep, I’ve had some of their beer before at beer festivals and the like. I don’t think anywhere near me sells it at retail, though. Luckily I do have a good beer store that sells some other cask or barrel conditioned beers.

@johnva: You go to beer festivals? Maybe we arent so different after all :)

We had a beer festival here a month ago. On my way there, a guy ran a red light, and totaled my car. Shook it off, had someone pick me up, and still made it to the beer fest. That’s called dedication. Or alcoholism. I forget which.

@mac-phisto: Blasphemer. P.S. I like Iron City too. Support your local breweries!

@bonzombiekitty: I like all those brews too, but Yuengling is my go to. I’m pretty much always in the mood for a Yuengling.

When I was a kid, Lion Brewery had 20 ounce returnable bottles with crooked labels called Lion’s Head. They were like $4.00 a case (in Pennsylvania!) and had about an inch of sediment in each bottle. Always fun to not warn people who never drank it before. Lol. How’s that last swig taste?

@johnva: Ya! Well I’m a young guy, all of my friends disagree with me on politics. They still hang with me. I drive them nuts sometimes, but I only debate with the ones who can stay calm, debate, and when its over, have no hard feelings. The others, I just leave it alone.

But I am definitely a beer lover. And if you are too, I would look into making your own beer. It would take a 200$ investment on your part, and 3 hours on a Saturday, and it’s one of the most gratifying hobbies I’ve ever done.

@Bladefist: I’ve made it before with one of my buddies. Quite a lot of fun. I’ll probably get back into it sometime, maybe when I’m living somewhere with more storage space and better indoor temperature control.

@johnva: One of my best friends and I are COMPLETE opposites, politically. But, we always enjoy getting together and debating politics, etc.; just to get the brain juices flowing. We normally end those debates with some tasty hops-based beverages.

@MichaelBrazell: Yep, well, 11 including D.C., just went to the website and they have it as a FAQ: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina & Alabama.

@Trai_Dep: @Trai_Dep: Why the hatred towards NC Frat Boys? Did you get kicked out of parties when you were in college?

As a former NC frat boy, I can tell you that the only times we bought kegs other than Busch Light and Natty Light were during “Foreign Exchange” nights, when we’d get Newcastle, Pilsner Urquell, and Dos Equis Kegs.

This is super common. I worked for a beer distributor for a summer in PA and when we’d run out of kegs of Bud but still had deliveries or sales until the next batch came in, we’d scrape off the Busch sticker and put a Bud cap on it. The low end shit is so bad NO ONE can tell the diff between a Bud or a Busch, esp since they’re from the same brewer.

@GearheadGeek: I don’t know, Applebee’s in my area probably has the best beer. .Not just by brands of whats offered but by quality of presented product. Always Cold, Never flat. And I can get Shiner Bock, Dos Equis, and Rolling Rock at my local bee’s. Maybe not “elite” but still very passable. Also, many Local restaruants in North Texas region carry a varitety of tap beer beyond “ML, BL, and CL” Oh, anyone in north texas that likes Blue Moon, should find a BJ’s and order their house Heffevison, very good.

@Bladefist: “I hate to bring politics into this (thats a complete lie) but I would be all for some sort of governmental social program, to put good beers into the hands of hard working Americans.”

SOCIALIST!!! ;)

Actually, if they used my recipes for lager or California Common (Steam Beer to the hoi polloi) I might have to concur. And yeah, I AM a socialist. ;p ;b Also rather drunk. Was I wearing a hat when I came in here?

ALE guy says this is the first time in 20 years he’s seen this switcheroo, yet they find it being done in 3 completely separate and unrelated bars in Greensboro? Seems unlikely these places just happened to figure out this scam on their own just recently, doesn’t it? I live in GSO and have watched our local officials work bigger scams than this one over the years. I’m guessing these bars just forgot to pay their “ALE dues” or something.

Also, subbing crappy cheap beer for crappy cheaper beer? How much profit could they make on this? Why not sub crappy cheap beer for something with a bigger markup? Which is what makes me think there’s more to this story between ALE and the bars in question.

@testsicles: Yes! During my frequent underage drinking parties a couple years ago, Lion’s Head was a mainstay. Now it’s $10/case, and no longer has an inch of sediment at the bottom. They have awesome riddles in the caps, but now that I’m older (and no longer broke), I stick to Hefeweizen. Lion’s head is the only beer that really promised me a hangover.